MI5TYK M3DIA

A Historical Analysis of Political Co-operation

Introduction

If you’ve spent any time on X (formerly Twitter) lately, then you’ve probably witnessed the political circus firsthand. CNN and Fox News warriors, waving their blue and red flags, hurl the loudest, most offensive memes they can dig up at each other. Users have opted for blood sport in place of constructive debate as each posting is designed to enrage the other side and widen the canyon of political disparity between them.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: it doesn’t matter which side you pick. Yes, you read that correctly. The Democratic and Republican parties are two sides of the same coin—a coin that, no matter how it flips, always ends up in the pockets of the elites who’ve rigged the system against you. It began with a degree of subtlety, but has picked up pace and morphed into an ordeal we can no longer ignore.

Call it the American casino. Your vote is the roulette ball, blue and red are your colors, and while you argue over where it lands, the house, i.e., the corporations, lobbyists, military-industrial complex, etc., keeps stacking chips.

The Origins: From No Parties to Two

When the Declaration of Independence (1776) was signed, the Founders hadn’t yet invented political parties. They actively feared them. George Washington’s Farewell Address warned against “the baneful effects of the spirit of party.” James Madison, in Federalist No. 10, called factions dangerous, though he figured a large republic might dilute their power. But ideals collide with reality fast. By the 1790s, factions hardened into the first U.S. parties:

• Federalists (Hamilton, Adams) → strong central government, pro-commerce.

• Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson, Madison) → agrarian, states’ rights, pro-France.

By the 1820s, the Federalists collapsed, and a new two-party cycle emerged: Democrats vs. Whigs, then Democrats vs. Republicans by the 1860s. Despite all the warnings, the United States locked itself into a permanent two-party structure in less than a century.

The Historical Timeline (1776 → Today)

• 1776–1787: No parties. The Revolution united colonists.

• 1790s: Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans. Washington hated it, but the split stuck.

• 1820s–1850s: Democrats (Jacksonian populists) vs. Whigs (pro-business).

• 1860s: Republicans (Lincoln, anti-slavery, pro-industry) vs. Democrats (pro-slavery South). Civil War entrenched the divide.

• Late 1800s–1900s: Both parties become vehicles for corporate and industrial power. Gilded Age politics were basically bribery with ballots.

• 1930s: New Deal Democrats vs. pro-business Republicans. FDR expands government, GOP resists, but both are still tied to donors.

• 1960s–1980s: Civil Rights shifts party coalitions; Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” rewires the map; Reagan brings corporate deregulation and evangelicals to the GOP; Democrats adapt but don’t uproot the system.

• 2000s–Today: Culture war polarization goes nuclear—but on war, surveillance, and corporate protection, both sides quietly converge.

Bipartisan Policies: The Great Convergence

Here’s the dirty truth, the X warriors were not informed of: Politicians may don their red and blue jerseys and scream at each other on the podium or on camera, but behind closed doors, they’ve been quietly building the same machine. Different marketing, same product. Here are some examples.

Take a look at the Patriot Act. Republicans used to preach about limiting government power, yet under George W. Bush they rammed through one of the most sweeping expansions of federal surveillance in history. Warrantless wiretaps, data dragnets, the works. Then, Obama, the supposed constitutional scholar, kept it alive and even expanded it. Our precious civil liberties in a post 9/11 world were sacrificed on the altar of “security,” regardless of who was in office.

Or look at foreign policy. Since 9/11, both parties have treated the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force like a blank check. The invasion of Iraq under false pretenses by Bush, Libya and drone wars under Obama, record defense budgets under Trump, and Biden’s Ukraine and Israeli military aid packages. It doesn’t appear to matter if it’s a cowboy conservative or a polished progressive—the military-industrial complex gets paid either way.

Then there’s Wall Street. When the 2008 financial crisis hit, Bush started the bailouts, Obama expanded them, and Congress from both sides signed off. Banks got saved, CEOs kept their bonuses, and regular people got foreclosure notices. Neither party reinstated the safeguards (like Glass-Steagall) that could’ve prevented it in the first place.

Even the tax code shows the same hand. Bush slashed taxes for the wealthy, Obama made most of those cuts permanent, Trump doubled down with corporate giveaways, Biden—despite all the campaign talk—did not reverse them. Big Tech, Big Oil, Big Pharma? They all get their subsidies and sweetheart deals no matter who’s smiling in the Oval Office photo ops.

And let’s not forget the War on Drugs and mass incarceration. Clinton built the prison boom, Bush escalated the drug war, Obama mostly maintained it, and Biden—who helped draft those “tough on crime” policies—only started pretending to rethink them right towards the end of his term. The prison-industrial complex doesn’t care if the guards wear red ties or blue ties.

Now we arrive at Trump’s second term. Instead of reversing course, he has amplified the trend. Not only has he picked up where Biden left off—sustaining surveillance authorities, defense contracts, and corporate protections—he has now taken the unprecedented step of mobilizing military force domestically. In Washington, D.C., Trump federalized local police and brought in National Guard units to “restore order” despite historically low violent crime. In Los Angeles, he deployed troops without the governor’s request, sparking lawsuits and constitutional challenges. What was once a bipartisan consensus around war and surveillance abroad has now crept homeward: military power turned inward on American citizens. To make matters worse, the trump administration has already signed numerous contracts with big tech giants as they seek to further enmesh the private and public sectors to instate what appears to be an autocratic technocracy. Let’s be honest with ourselves, do we really think voting for a Democrat next time will slow any of this down?

Final Thoughts: The House Always Wins

So here we are. It’s no wonder the founding fathers warned against factionalism. If we don’t course correct soon, the results could prove dire for our republic, so there isn’t much time. So next time your blood starts boiling over a politically charged internet meme remember: The two-party system that pretends to offer choice really only quietly maintains elite interests. Surveillance continues. Wars continue. Corporate bailouts continue. And now, even the military has been pulled directly into domestic politics.

The culture war is the entertainment, the outrage machine that keeps you busy. The real game is happening at the casino table, where the roulette ball spins red or blue, but the house—the corporations, the lobbyists, the military-industrial complex—always wins. Today, the only difference is that the casino’s guards are no longer just protecting the table. They’re walking the streets of Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. –MiStyk